Stitch by Stitch...

Stitch by stitch, evening after evening, my own version of Sarah Barker's sampler is finally complete 186 years after Sarah finished hers. I began this piece in January. Everything about working on this sampler has delighted me. If you've been a reader here for a while you may recall a post that I did many years back regarding a thimble that my grandmother gave to me. I am including the link here, for context. A friend discovered this sampler pattern and alerted me to it a few years back. I have done some research through my hometown document center to see if this sampler could possibly be one made by the original owner of my thimble. The dates align. There were six nine year old girls named Sarah Elizabeth Barker living in the United States in 1840. Considering the fact that this child had her own gold, monogrammed, thimble; and the high quality of needlework skills exhibited in this piece of work, chances are high that this sampler was made by the same person as the one buried in my hometown. I am going with that. I have switched out the colors of mine from the original. Now to look at framing options. Here is the pattern as printed:

Moving on from handwork to the longarm~ "America 250"  is finally quilted and the binding has been prepared. I ran into a huge obstacle on this one! Somehow my upper thread path became undone somewhere along the line and while advancing the quilt to do the next row I discovered a huge tangled mess of threads on the backside. That one single row that took, maybe, 15 minutes to stich took me 2 days to pick out!  Lesson learned~ slow down, pay attention! Groan. This quilt will be the ultimate patriotic picnic quilt, take a look at the backing fabric; isn't it just great? Just add fried chicken and lemonade!

"America 250" ~ pantograph is "Becker's Shooting Star" from Urban Elementz.

God bless America!

SEW, what's under your needle these days?

Life is Good!

Stitching On The Seas

All those sea days spent sailing to and fro on the big boat were not spent with idle hands, far from it. Like I did two years ago, this past trip saw many hours on the ocean spent hand stitching these itty-bitty motifs onto Essex Linen. They will soon be set into a child-sized quilt. (Click here to read a similar post from 2017.)  This time, using the same awesome book: "S" Is For Stitch by Kristyne Czepuryk,  I stitched out the boy version.


Stay tuned to see how this one is set together. The colors are much more muted this time, I love it!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Life is Good!

 

Pulling It Together

Pattern is from the book "S is for Stitch"  ~ 34.5" X 39"

Last week I found the perfect border piece for this embroidered "quiltlet", I believe this color helps to pull it together. I also found, what I consider to be, the most ideal backing piece as well, a precious floral that picks up the colors from the front (left, photos below). I need for scrappy, multi-fabric pieces to be controlled and cohesive. This one is pulling together beautifully, at least it is to my eye. Yesterday afternoon I took  stole a bit of time and added the border, pressed the piece and hung it on a hanger, where it now has taken its rightful spot in the "to be quilted" queue. That brings up even more to think about. However will I quilt this one? I honestly don't know.

I don't believe that I want to quilt through the hand embroidered blocks at all. 

What would you do when faced with this quilting challenge? I am wide open to suggestions. I have a LOT of time to decide, I am counting on this little flimsy to wait patiently for its turn, there are a myriad of other tasks that require pulling together in the meantime. Stolen moments to stitch, however, provides much needed energy to this quiltophile!

Life is Good!

"S" Is For Stitch

I saw some precious projects made up with tiny, hand-embroidered, blocks using the patterns from a book by Kristyne Czepuryk: S is for Stitch. Well, of course, I had to take a hand project with me on our recent vacation. I spent many a morning sitting outside on our balcony, happily stitching away one letter at a time. These little blocks finish up at four inches square.

 By the end of our fifteen day cruise I had all of the letters and little pictures done.

The trimmed blocks, ready for setting.

Beginning the setting.

After adding the inner border I thought about adding a strippy-pieced outer border, after auditioning a piece I abandoned that idea; it seemed too strong and distracting. I will add an outer border, in a tone-on-tone turquoise color, I just need to find the right piece. This small quilt measures 30" X 35" right now, before the outer border is added.

This is the little girl version, there is a boy version too; I believe I need to do that one as well!

Now I know my ABCs, next time won't you sing with me?

Life is Good!

Projects To Go...

"Got Cookies?"  92" X 75" and the "kit".

I posted a while ago about having projects to work on while traveling and doing handwork in the car: Making The Miles Count. I received an e-mail requesting some direction on the subject as far as readying a project to this stage for finishing on-the-go.
Diana wrote: "You have mentioned more than once that you do handwork in your car...I would love for you to tell me how.  I mean how do you organize the things we need?  Maybe even do it on your blog...hopefully I am not the only one who is confused."

The hand basting step, not one to be overlooked!

For me, I plan ahead by putting together a small, project specific, sewing "kit" that carries the essentials for finishing handwork on the go. The contents of the kit will vary depending on what I'm working on; maybe it's hand  appliqué or perhaps it's hand piecing. For today's example I have a quilt top all bound with binding that's been hand-basted into position; that extra step enables me to whip down the binding while elimainating pins!
I use the same procedure for finishing whether I'm in the car or sitting in a chair on the patio. I know I'll need matching thread, needles, a small pair of scissors for snipping thread ends and a double sided tape roll too. I use a small section of tape inside the cover of my kit box to hold those thread ends until I can pull it loose and dispose of it in a trash can; that keeps the work area, wherever it may be, neat and tidy. It's pretty basic, it just requires a little pre-planning and preparation work ahead of time to make any project travel-ready!

Once done, you're on your way... project and all!

Life is Good!

  

Stick To It!

It's been a long time since I sat, evening after evening, devoting focused hours to hand quilting. It's extremely therapeutic, being caught up in nothing more than the rocking rhythm of the needle in my hand and the thimble on my finger. Once I settle in and get under the hooped quilt, with my steaming hot cup of blueberry tea beside me, the last thing I want to do is jump up to retrieve some forgotten item. It's taken some time, but finally I have defined exactly what I find necessary and contained it into one small basket to keep beside my chair. The obvious items are thread, needle, thimble, scissors and marking tools. The needle threader and the beeswax candle (I shove the needle into it from time to time to reduce drag) make the task so much easier; but, a short strip of double-sided tape attached to one side of the basket has proved to be the handiest item of all! Those pesky little thread ends and, sometimes, even a bent or broken needle are placed onto the sticky surface and held there to be disposed of later. I can clean off the tape for several evenings in a row before the tape loses its adhesive properties and needs replacing. Whatever your handwork is, and however you keep your tools, consider adding a strip of double-sided tape to your area to work more cleanly and effectively. It's a simple little trick that makes a big difference... just stick to it!!

Life is Good!

Quilter's Road Trip!

I set aside today to prepare. I'm heading up to Hampton, VA next week for the 25th annual Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival; by my rough calculations I figure that I've been to more than half of them.  I am taking a class from Augusta Cole again this year. I loved the class that I took from her last year (although that quilt is far from finished) and enrolled in her "Wheel Of Fortune" class this time. Today I pulled fabric from the stash closet and chose a bright palette and a white on white for the background. I can't stress enough the importance of keeping a well-stocked stash closet at home, just for times like this. Saying this makes me feel better; less guilty for the sheer volume of fabric amassed in there. Following the directions for class preparation I cut all the strips and packed them up to carry with me for Thursday's session. I'll be sure to report back with show and tell from not only this class but from the Vendor's Mall and the Quilt Show too. I've already put together a shopping list of exciting new items to look for.

All packed up and ready to go!  Is it too soon to start packing my clothes and snacks?

I finished quilting this sweet baby girl quilt this afternoon and applied the binding, then basted it down into postion for the finishing hand stitches.  This quilt measures 42" X 48".

Here's a close-up of the quilting, a simple pantograph design called "Cloud Stipple".

I'll be taking these two quilts along for finishing, in the evenings. There's nothing like four days of shopping, a quilt class and one fabulous Quilt Show to look forward to; not to mention happy reunions with friends. I should be able to squeeze in some productive hours during "down time"... we'll see.

Life is Good!

Sowing (Sewing) Seeds

 Last week was spent sowing seeds. After a long, very long (5 year) hiatus my daughter and I were back at our church camp as C3ARE leaders once again. C3ARE is an acronym standing for the 3C's~ Christian, Camp, Community and then the A,R, and E:
Area Resource Enabler. What that means is that we do age-appropriate Bible study with the campers during a pre-arranged  block of time in their daily schedule. This year we chose First Campers (1st and 2nd graders) who opted for a short half week on camp. Sunday through Wednesday sounded like a good plan to our daughter as far as introducing Mason and Lucy Ann to a camp experience that only encompassed three and a half days. It was the perfect amount of time; for them and for us.  While sowing camp seeds among the youngest of participants during the day I found myself "sEwing" seeds after hours... strawberry seeds; on wool! The handwork on this project has become my latest obsession; it's coming along nicely and will be done before long! It's the perfect portable.
And one final, funny, Masonism. While sharing living space at camp with my grandchildren I found myself closely observed in the mornings when I was getting ready and putting on my "face" for the day. I use an eyelash curler which likely appers to be some sort of archaic torture device to my almost 5 y.o. grandson!

Mason: "Nana, what's that?"

me: "It's an eyelash curler, it curls my lashes before I apply mascara. I place my lashes inside and squeeze it."

Mason: "Oh. Does it hurt?"

me: "No, not at all."

The next day he reached into my makeup pouch and presented the eyelash curler to me with a smile.

"Here, Nana, don't forget to use this" Mason happily prompted.

 "Thank you, Mason", I responded, "do you remember what it's for?' I asked.

"Yes," he chirped, "it's the tool for rolling your eye out"!

Life is Good!

Worth The Wait

It's done... at long last! Don't ever give up on long-abandoned projects. This table topper is a prime example. The hand embroidery on this piece was begun in 1975; it languished, all but forgotten, for many years until it was rediscovered approximately five years ago. I persevered with the handwork; month after month, as time allowed, until it was completed. In late April I picked it up off the "to quilt" pile and loaded it onto Sundance. I finished the binding in the car last week. This makes me smile and serves as a reminder that all things we love, in due time, are worth even the longest wait.

Life is Good!

Clean Plate Club!

Robin and Strawberries pattern from Bonnie's Garden

I am happy to report that I am a member of the clean-plate club! Three BIG projects have been either completed or passed on to their new homes, bringing with that a feeling of freedom and accomplishment! And so, with a clear consicence, I have prepared handwork to accompany me in the car on a roadtrip to New England. I will happily be whipping down binding on my tabletopper and hand embroidering the edges on this precious wool appliqué piece while I'm away. Yes, I have loaded my clean plate up, with strawberries this time... yum!

Life is Good!

Miles and Miles...

... of thread! You may wonder what I was actually doing while being a captive passenger on our recent Canadian adventure. Well, I spent time stitching, among other things (GPS inputting, reading two books, napping, map reading, picture taking) and I have show and tell to prove it! It was a lo-o-o-o-ng way around all the scalloped edges of this antique Double wedding ring quilt that required a new binding. Whipping down the edges consumed many hours that these hands would have been otherwise idle. Now it's completed and ready to be pressed back into service.

This Swiss (French) sampler cross-stitch was begun in 1997. It had migrated to the top of the stack and this time I didn't push it back down to the bottom. I decided to take it along and finish it, at long last; quite unbelievably, it was almost done already, why I had ever abandoned it at 90+% completion is a mystery, even to me. Now it is done and ready to be framed and hung in our kitchen.

Life is Good!

In Stitches On Saturday

The embroidery machine was humming with past weekend at The Strawberry Patch! Some custom burp cloths were created, as well as two onesies and a small tote bag that were personalized for my grandson. Strawberries (my first attempt at "picture" smocking!), blossoms and rick rack were added to Lucy Ann's smocked summer dress during the evenings after the machine was shut down and it was time for handwork. I'm happy to be finishing up the prep-work on the last three (of 16!) quilts for presentation to our high school graduates at church this coming Sunday. Sadly, Sundance has been collecting dust while the other machines have been logging in hours of their own, I'll have to do something about that and get her back on track soon. Yep, there's a bright light shining at the end of the over-commitment tunnel and I'm glad to report that it's NOT an oncoming train.

Life is Good!

Tiny Clothes

The embroidery machine has been busy, stitching itty bitty monograms onto teeny tiny clothes! The velour one-piece playsuit in the back is for Gregory. The two hooded jackets in front are for newborn twin girls born a week ago last Sunday.

My hands haven't been idle either! I've begun smocking again; Lucy Ann's Easter dress is on the left and a little summer play dress for her is on the right; those are strawberries on that one! The smocking plate reflects that same motif, I couldn't help myself. These tiny clothes provide a huge helping of happiness!

Life is Good!